Evgeny Lebedev’s nomination for a peerage was paused after advice from MI5 and was only ultimately approved with a letter advising his appointment would be controversial, the chair of House of Lords appointments commission has told MPs.
Giving evidence on Wednesday morning, Lord Bew said that MI5 had raised security concerns when the Evening Standard owner was put forward for a peerage by Downing Street in March 2020 – which prompted “a protracted period” of review.
Bew did not spell out what those concerns were to MPs on the public administration and constitutional affairs committee, but it is understood that the agencies had initially flagged up that Lebedev’s father, Alexander, was a former KGB agent, prompting the commission to press for further details.
The commission, Bew said, had received advice that “required further elucidation”, a process that he admitted “went on for some weeks”. He added: “Does that constitute a pause? I suppose so.”
Controversy surrounding the peerage given to Lebedev dates back his appointment in 2020. Sources have said that the commission felt “bounced” into appointing him because Downing Street continued to press for it despite the initial MI5 warning.
The Russian-British dual national is a friend of the prime minister, whom he has regularly invited to his Christmas and summer parties in London and at his palazzo in Umbria, Italy. The morning after one such party, Johnson was spotted at a nearby airport looking like “he had slept in his clothes”.
Bew indicated to MPs that while MI5 had provided additional security advice about the newspaper owner, it did not merit calling for the appointment to be blocked. “No pressure” was applied by Downing Street to endorse Lebedev’s peerage, Bew added.
However, the commission chair said that the final letter endorsing Lebedev’s nomination contained a pointed observation about how the prospective appointment was likely to be received if Downing Street pushed ahead.
“We do say about candidates, there are things in this person’s career which will lead to negative public comment,” Bew told MPs, although he added this did not amount to a warning. A “reasonable person” might conclude that had happened in Lebedev’s case, he said.
Labour has successfully demanded that the commission publish the security advice the commission received by 28 April, after reports in the Guardian, Byline Times and the Sunday Times about the security concerns raised by MI5.
Bew said there was “a final document” summarising the issues relating to Lebedev’s nomination, but added it was not yet decided “what’s to be released and what’s not to be released” – implying there was an ongoing process of redactions.
At the time of the Commons vote to disclose the security advice, Lebedev said he had “nothing to hide” and called for the security advice about him to be made public.
After warning about Lebedev’s father, MI5 is understood to have told the commission that any security risk associated with the Evening Standard owner would be low, because peers do not routinely see classified government documents.
